/// Wonderful Wonderpus….!

27 Oct / 2010

October has been a great month for sightings of the Wonderpus with one literally being seen on nearly every dive and some dives seeing more than one!

Wonderpus (Wonderpus photogenicus) are solitary octopodes, who are usually buried themselves in the sand in the shallows. They will display a brown and white stripped pattern when agitated or hunting. This pattern and its ‘stalked’ eyes makes them easy to recognize.

However many people mistake the Wonderpus for the Mimic Octopus when they first come across it and to the untrained eye this is quite understandable. The Wonderpus is smaller and its stripes are more defined than those of the Mimic Octopus. Also the Wonderpus is just happy being himself and so doesn’t spend time pretending to be other critters to amuse divers!

Thank you to Nasfay Bela for allowing us to use this beautiful shot of the Wonderpus. Check an eye out on future blogs for more of his amazing shots!